Mauro, his humans and the love boat

Mauro traveled quite well, relatively speaking. Since we took the night boat to Finland, we had the day to prepare him and us. The first surprise was his adamant refusal to get into the cab. We travel with him on the subway and train but never a car. We finally forced him in and made it to the dock. He was very good waiting and boarding. Since there were couple of thousand people moving into the boat at the same time, he did quite well.

Our cabin going over had 4 bunks, 2 upper and 2 lower, which fold down. So, after seeing that he was going to be quite crowded if he slept with me, he made a wise choice and slept on the other lower bunk in his own bed. They have a sand box on one of the back decks for pets but, like our Lucy before him, Mauro wasn’t about to use it. We went out a few times with him and then gave up. His back teeth were floating in the morning but he made it off and outside the terminal okay. Again we had to manhandle him into a car. By the time we left this morning, he was willing to get into a car but, unlike most other dogs, he wasn’t anxious for a ride.

The week in Finland was relatively quiet. Mauro can be so good and so sweet at times and then he could make the Dalai Lama cry. We had a lot of walks in the pine forest. There was a little snow from days prior but no bad weather.

Mauro bunked with me the whole time. The guest bedroom is small and the twin bed is not big enough for 3 of us. My wife made a wise choice and slept on the couch. As you can see, Mauro is into togetherness whenever possible and the house was not set up for a dog. Thankfully, he is not spoiled :-)

While we were there, my wife’s brother and sister-in-law came to visit with their 18 month old twin boys. Practically speaking we had 3 puppies running around the house. Mauro is just too big to be able to play with them but they were thrilled to touch him and pet him. We had to watch because, as you know, twin 18 month old boys are extremely dangerous and a 100 pound dog is simply not equipped to handle them. Wolves, yes. Little boys, no. The boys are nicknamed “Tiku” and “Taku”. That is the Finnish name for the chipmunks in the Disney cartoons that we know as “Chip and Dale”. It’s an appropriate name as they are always chattering and on the go. You can’t turn your back on them.

It started snowing the night we left and there was an inch of snow on the ground before we reached the city. It is amazing how the road disappears in the snow. The more dangerous part is the snow swirling up as we drive on the highway. It made it almost impossible to see.

Our cabin had only 2 lower bunks on the return so my wife got to snuggle up with Snickelfritz. He was nervous in the cab on the way home here in Stockholm. It was a station wagon and Mauro was all the way in the back. He peed before we left but that was all. About halfway home, he whined a little and then crawled into the back seat with my wife and the luggage.

Since it was still long before sunrise, it was very dark in the cab and impossible to see in the back (that's our story and we are sticking to it). It smelled as if Mauro had passed gas but the smell was lingering and we don’t really know if he did anything else. My wife said it was embarrassing. My view is that the cabdriver only knows the address of the building and not our name or apartment number. As a precaution, we just have to be careful not to go out if we see a cab with an irate driver parked in front of the building. Besides, I gave him a tip.